Magnetic Love
by Syrus
Summary: It's Maya's twenty first birthday! What hijinks will our favorite lawyers and assistants get into now?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Franziska von Karma sat at her desk, meticulously working on the paperwork she had to complete from her last trial, thankfully a victory that was in her favor. Although by no means did she enjoy doing paperwork related to trials, there was something about the fact that she won the case which made her feel just a little less irritated about it. When she had almost completed all of it, she heard a soft knock on her office door. Not one to take kindly to visitors that came when she was busy, she tried to ignore it, but since the person seemed annoyingly insistent, she stopped working long enough to answer.

Abruptly, she stood up with her whip in her hand, intending to teach whoever dared disturb her a lesson as she threw open her door, but she was surprised to see that her visitor was none other than Maya Fey.

"What is it, Maya Fey?" Franziska asked harshly, but she stepped aside from her door to allow Maya inside the office.

Even if it seemed to any onlooker that Franziska absolutely did not want Maya Fey in her office space, this was surprisingly not true. Over the years, since the time that they met, their relationship had metamorphosed from one of ambivalence to one that was undeniably a strange form of friendship.

Franziska quickly took her place in her seat behind her desk, while Maya stood awkwardly in front of her, looking very uncomfortable, and even vaguely upset.

"Is there something troubling you, Maya Fey?" Franziska asked in a deathly serious voice, her eyebrow raised in a way that looked very threatening.

"Oh." Maya quickly broke eye contact with Franziska, not because of the look she was getting from her (due to the silent understanding between them), but because what she had to say was very difficult for her to get out, "I…well, if you're busy, maybe I should come back later — "

Franziska abruptly cut her off by snapping her whip on the ground and saying, "Don't be a fool! Sit!"

Her words sounded much more like a threat rather than a friendly invitation for a chat, but Maya complied, knowing that this was just Franziska's way of interacting with people.

"Out with it! Now!" Franziska barked at Maya, the grip on her whip still very tight.

"Well…it's about Larry…" Maya said reluctantly, still unable to re-establish eye contact with Franziska.

"What has that idiot done now?" Franziska said, punctuating each word harshly.

"Umm…" Maya said in hesitation, now a little afraid of how Franziska would react to the news, but sadness still tinged her tone, "Well…he…uhh…kinda broke up with me…"

"Why?" Franziska asked simply, but her tone was still dangerous.

At this question, Maya sounded a bit pained as she spoke, "I told him that I wanted a more steady relationship, and he just told me that he wasn't ready for something like that."

Fraziska just stared at Maya with an intense but unreadable expression on her face. Then she startled Maya by standing up suddenly and began to stalk toward the door.

When she got over her shock enough to speak, Maya said, "Wait! Where are you going!?"

Stopping by the door of the office, she turned swiftly on her heel and with a snap of her whip on the floor, she said, "I am going to whip that moron into the ground, of course!"

A look of panic flashed across Maya's face and said, "No! Don't do that, please!"

Maya stood up from where she was sitting, walked over to Franziska, and gently pulled her back toward the desk.

With a sigh, Maya continued, eventually giving Franziska a sad smile as she spoke, "As fun as that might be, you can't whip him into wanting something that he doesn't. In fact, it just might make him want it less."

Franziska was silent for a moment, and then in a determined tone she said, "But I can see no other satisfactory solution to this problem."

The sad smile stayed on Maya's face when she said, "I know…I just felt like telling someone, that's all. I…didn't really feel like telling Nick since he seems to have so many problems in his case to deal with right now, and I don't want him to worry about me when he has to get his client off the hook."

Franziska raised an eyebrow at Maya and said, "Hmph. Well, you made the right decision. Phoenix Wright is an absolute fool."

Both of them were silent for a moment when Maya finally spoke again, sounding a bit melancholy as she did.

"You know, you're really lucky to have Detective Gumshoe."

Franziska made what sounded like an annoyed sound in her throat, but her tone softened noticeably as she spoke, "What, Scruffy? He's a foolish fool."

But she left it at that, her face having a strangely contemplative look on it, and if someone looked very closely, her lips just slightly curved up in a smile. Franziska finally looked back at Maya, and found her looking just a little more sad when she mentioned Gumshoe to her. This made her feel a little helpless, since she wasn't sure what she should say to make Maya feel better, but she tried her best to sound sympathetic as she could.

"Anyway, Butz is a pathetic excuse for a man, and you, out of all people, should not have had to deal with his foolish, immature stupidity."

To this, Maya gave Franziska a little smile and softly said, "Thanks."

After sitting in silence for a moment, Maya did feel significantly better than when she came in, so she figured that she should just get going and let Franziska finish whatever she was working on before she came.

"Hey, thanks for listening to me, Franziska. Really, you should get back to work now. Maybe all of us can hang out soon, since my birthday is coming up!" Maya said, flashing Franziska a genuine smile as she mentioned her birthday, "I can't wait, I'll finally be twenty one!"

Franziska made a sound, seemingly out of amusement, and replied, "I believe you want to foolishly become intoxicated now that you have the chance."

Maya laughed and said, "Well, there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a little fun on my birthday!"

With this, Maya made her way to the door of Franziska's office, giving her a little wave and saying, "I'll see you later!"

"Good bye." Franziska said, giving Maya one last look as the spirit medium walked out of the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As Maya had mentioned to Franziska earlier, Phoenix was busy trying to find evidence to prove his client not guilty, but this was no easy task. Looking at all of the evidence he had gathered from the crime scene, he tried to establish a link that was new between them, or just to find a new way to look different pieces of evidence in general. So far, he wasn't having much luck, but he kept trying to think.

He figured that Maya could use a break, since he was sure she wouldn't want to just sit and listen to him talking to himself as he thought about the case, so he told her to just go out and do whatever she felt like for a little while he worked. He was happy with the peace and quiet he got as he worked alone in the office, but it was not to last as someone burst in unannounced.

"Yo, Nick!" Larry said in a friendly tone as if he didn't just barge into his friend's office without even giving him a call to warn him, "What's going on with you?"

Phoenix let out a sigh as he tried not to look up from his work, knowing that his day just got so much more complicated with Larry's entrance, and he said cautiously, "Hey, Larry. Look, I'm a little busy right now with work – "

"Come on, Nick! I'm bored…can't we do something?" Larry replied almost as if Phoenix hadn't spoken at all.

This is when Phoenix finally looked up and saw Larry looking at him with his big shiny, teary eyes, which would have worked on him just about any other time, but right now he, more specifically _his client_, was in a jam, so this was the last possible time that he wanted to goof off.

"Larry, seriously, I'm busy. Why don't you do something with Maya? She's on a break right now. I thought she'd gone to see you actually." Phoenix said, now scrunching his eyebrows slightly in thought, suddenly realizing that this situation did seem a little odd.

When an awkward silence settled in the room, Phoenix's suspicions that Larry wasn't just here to hang out with him were confirmed.

Phoenix just kept looking at Larry, when finally Larry broke eye contact and spoke in hesitation, "Ummm…Maya and I…kinda broke up."

"What?" Phoenix said in surprise, not expecting this at all, "But you guys seemed pretty happy. What happened?"

At this question, Larry scratched the back of his head as he thought, and a pained expression flashed on his face, "I…It's my fault…I think I screwed up, Nick."

"How do you mean?" Phoenix prodded, now wondering why Maya didn't mention anything to him about this.

Larry looked away from Phoenix again as he explained what happened, "Well, me and Maya were talking a few days ago, and then all of a sudden she tells me how she wants to have kids!"

Phoenix raised his eyebrows at Larry in surprise, not sure what to think about this, but suddenly Larry started looking a bit sheepish as he continued to speak.

"Then I told her that she was smothering me and that I couldn't handle that! When I thought about it later, I realized that she probably didn't mean right now, but I'd already freaked out and broke up with her by then."

Phoenix just stared at Larry, wondering how his spastic, irresponsible friend actually got women to date him.

Finally he just rolled his eyes and replied, "Just go and apologize to her, Larry. I'm sure she knows you well enough to know you didn't mean it."

Phoenix knew that he was in trouble when Larry's eyes got big, and shiny, and teary, knowing that Larry was about to start screaming in dramatics.

"I can't apologize, Nick!! She's not going to take me back!! I'M SUCH A PATHETIC HUMAN BEING, JUST END MY USELESS EXISTENCE ALREADY!!"

Phoenix shook his head at the sudden assault on his ears and he quietly said, "Larry, calm down."

But the attorney's words fell on deaf ears as Larry continued on his tirade, "She'll never forgive me!! So I guess I have to move on…I don't want to be alone, Nick!!

Before Larry could say any more about his plight, Maya now came into the office.

"I'm back! I just had gone – " she began to say, but she quickly stopped when she realized that Larry was also in the office.

Maya and Larry just looked at each other awkwardly, when Phoenix finally decided to break the tense silence.

"So, Maya…I know your birthday is coming up in a few days. Was there anything you wanted to do?" Phoenix asked, trying to get everyone's minds off the uneasiness in the room.

Maya's expression turned thoughtful as she considered the possibilities.

"I'm not sure, maybe we can all go to a bar or something…since I'll finally be able to get a drink now and all." Maya said with a playful smile.

"Well, I had wanted to surprise you, but a friend of mine just opened up a club in downtown LA, and I was planning for all of us to go on your birthday." Larry said, unable to even look Maya in the eye as he spoke, his voice uncharacteristically timid.

"Oh. Well, okay, sure." Maya said with just a little hesitation, but she gave Larry a small sweet smile nonetheless.

Seeing this smile, Larry felt even more acutely aware of what he'd so stupidly thrown away. Silently kicking himself, he just decided to get out of the office as quickly as possible.

"I guess I'll see you guys later." Larry said, shuffling out of the office door without another word to either of them.

Phoenix and Maya watched him leave, and then Phoenix turned to Maya and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about you and Larry breaking up?"

Maya looked away from Phoenix, obviously a little distressed and said, "I knew you were busy with your case, so I didn't want to bother you about it."

"Come on, Maya…you know that I would have helped you if you told me what was going on." Phoenix replied with a bit of concern.

"I know you would have. But really, Nick…your client needs more help than I do right now. This case looks impossible to win!" Maya said, looking a little amused, trying deliberately to change the subject away from she and Larry.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Maya." Phoenix started to say dryly, but he could tell what Maya was up to, so he brought he conversation back to what it started with, "But, anyway, Larry just told me right now that he was sorry about what he said, and that he didn't mean it."

Maya let out a little sigh and replied, "I know he didn't mean it, but I really don't want this to keep happening. I mean, a relationship is no fun if the other person can break up with you randomly any time. Until he stops doing that, I don't think I can get back together with him."

Phoenix thought that this was fair enough, so he decided to drop the subject. He wasn't sure what to change the subject to, since he didn't want to stay on this awkward topic, but thankfully, Maya did for him.

"So, before we go to the club, you are so taking me out to an awesome birthday dinner! Just like that time at the Gatewater hotel!" Maya said, suddenly looking excited as she mentioned all the food.

"I don't know about this, Maya." Phoenix tried to resist, but he knew it was futile.

Whenever it came to spending his money, Phoenix rarely had a choice in the matter, so he decided just to let it go, especially since this was for her birthday.

"Oh, I know the perfect place we can go!" Maya said, beginning to tell Phoenix all about one amazing steak house she'd heard about.

Phoenix had also heard about this place and its exorbitant prices, so suddenly he decided that Miles would be helping him pay for the dinner whether he liked it or not.

_Maya…she'll never change…_Phoenix thought, just happy that she seemed happier with the prospect of the nice dinner, and that her mind seemed to be off her problems with Larry just for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

On Maya's birthday, Phoenix and Miles took Maya out to dinner at the steak house as she wanted and then met Larry, Franziska, and Detective Gumshoe at the club. Miles and Phoenix were glad that she seemed to enjoy her dinner a lot, and even if the price for the dinner was high, her happiness was the most important thing to both of them. Arriving at the club, they found that Gumshoe, Franziska, and Larry were waiting for them outside.

"Miles Edgeworth!" Franziska spoke in a sharp and obviously annoyed tone, "What took you so long?! Due to your lateness, I was forced to wait out here with this fool."

On conclusion of her comment, she sent a withering glare in Larry's direction, which he pointedly ignored, being frightened enough of her already. Gumshoe stood awkwardly with the two of them, looking really glad that Phoenix, Maya, and Miles finally showed up.

Miles barely resisted rolling his eyes at Franziska and he replied, "We had to allow Maya enough time to finish dinner and then come over here."

"Hmph." Franziska said in what seemed to be disbelief, but she decided to let it go since it was Maya's birthday, so she continued, "Fine, then let's stop foolishly wasting time outside here and get inside then!"

She suddenly reached out and grabbed Gumshoe's arm to drag him inside the club with her, and she did not give anyone else a second look, obviously too annoyed by Larry to make any small talk.

When Miles examined the atmosphere around the club, he was surprised to note that this seemed to be much more of a posh setting than he expected Larry to be able to get them into. As all of them waited by the door for a chance to talk to the bouncer, Maya tried to ignore the way that Larry playfully hit on some of the girls standing outside the club hoping to get in, but it did get to her.

Larry, himself, just wanted to put his problems with Maya out of his mind, and he did it the only way he knew how. Although, when he glanced in Maya's direction, he saw the slightly hurt expression on her face, and this made him quit it, and he quickly went to talk with the bouncer. Larry was glad that his friend actually came through for him, and put all of their names on the guest list without a problem.

"This is it!" Larry said in excitement as they all examined the inside of the club, "Isn't this place completely awesome?!"

"Yeah, it's not half bad, Larry. How did you make friends with the owner anyway?" Phoenix asked, half way curious with half the connections Larry seemed to have.

"Well, he was a friend of this one model I dated…Kiyance, you remember her? She brought this friend down to Gourd Lake to try some of the Samurai Dogs I was selling, and to see the Santa costume that she bought for me. So he loved the Dogs, and that's when he mentioned his idea of opening the club. I thought I'd call him just a few weeks ago since I knew Maya's birthday was coming up, and he remembered how much he loved the Dogs, so he got us all in!" Larry replied quickly in excitement.

"Doing a job well enough that someone remembers you a few years after? I'm impressed, Larry. It's usually for the opposite reason that people remember you." Miles said in dry humor, looking obviously amused.

"Shut up, Edgey!" Larry said, also more amused than annoyed since he was generally a care free kind of guy, "Just loosen up, already! Speaking of loosening up, let's all go dance!"

Larry didn't even wait for the rest of them, running off to the dance floor on his own. It looked like most of the group did not want to participate, but Maya at least wanted someone to come with her, especially since the break up between her and Larry was still fresh, she still felt very uneasy being around him by herself.

After a few minutes of everyone standing around awkwardly by the dance floor, Maya decided to avoid Larry a while and finally take advantage of being twenty one, grabbing Phoenix's hand and saying, "Come on, Nick, buy me a drink!"

Phoenix looked at Maya in surprise and said, "Already?"

"Yeah! And you get something with me! All of you guys should. I don't want to be drinking alone on my birthday!" Maya said as she glanced at everyone standing with her, putting her hands on her hips, looking very determined.

Phoenix let out a little sigh, shaking his head, and he said, "Alright, let's go."

Maya clapped her hands together in excitement, and then she dragged Phoenix by the hand to the bar, with Miles, Franziska, and Gumshoe following behind. When they got there, she carefully took a look at all the drinks that were being served to other people when her eyes fell on a tall pretty glass with an orange colored drink in it.

"I want that one, Nick!" Maya said, smiling and pointing to the bright orange drink.

Phoenix looked in the direction she was pointing and then he sputtered, saying, "But, Maya, that's a Long Island Ice Tea! It's a pretty strong drink."

Maya just gave Phoenix a mischievous smile and then turned to the bartender to say, "I want a Long Island Ice Tea, please!"

Then she turned to Phoenix and Miles, giving them a pouty look, saying, "You guys get one too!"

Without waiting for their responses, which undoubtedly would have been 'no,' Maya said to the bartender as she motioned toward Phoenix and Miles, "And two more for them!"

"Maya, wait a second, I don't want a drink so strong – " Phoenix tried resisting, but it was no use.

Phoenix let out a sigh and dug into his wallet to pay the bartender, grumbling a little at how he already felt like his money was wiped out on just three drinks. Phoenix glanced over at Miles, who looked like he had a small smile tugging at his lips at this whole exchange between he and Maya, and strangely, this made him feel just a bit better.

Maya then turned to Franziska and Gumshoe, and said, "Why don't you guys get something too!"

Franziska seemed to be considering the idea as Gumshoe stood by her, looking a little awkward, not really wanting to get drunk, especially if Franziska was around, since that would increase the chance of him doing something that would get him whipped.

Finally she replied, "I do not want to get foolishly intoxicated in the first moment we arrived here."

Maya just smiled and said, "Your loss!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Maya took a big sip of her drink, the sensation of the alcohol rushing quickly to her head, especially since she wasn't used to having any sort of strong liquor.  She shook her head a little and laughed.  Phoenix gave her a slightly worried look, and was about to tell Maya to take it easy when his attention was suddenly diverted by Franziska.

"I want a coke," she suddenly said as she looked at Phoenix, "Mr. Phoenix Wright! Purchase this drink for me _now_."

Phoenix sputtered in response and said, "But...Detective Gumshoe...?"

Gumshoe scratched his head in mild embarrassment and said, "Sorry, Pal...I'm a bit low on cash at the moment..."

"Purchase the drink now!" Franziska said harshly, lashing out lightly with her whip at Phoenix.

"Oww!! Alright, alright!" Phoenix said, rubbing his arm where the whip hit him.

Phoenix hurriedly looked into his wallet before she whipped him again, but he found that his finances were drastically drained due to him just buying three expensive drinks.  Phoenix realized that he'd have to step outside the club and find an ATM to keep himself from being whipped to death over a drink.  Noticing that this seemed to amuse Miles, this time he felt just a bit annoyed.

"If we can't find an ATM, you're so helping me pay for this." Phoenix grumbled at Miles as both of them, along with Franziska and Gumshoe, made their way out of the club.

A smirk grew on Miles' face as he replied, "And spoil Franziska's fun?  I think not."

Phoenix grumbled some more as they left Maya near the bar, and she giggled at the situation.  She sat alone for a few minutes, sipping her drink just a little too fast, when Larry suddenly appeared in front of her, taking a break from dancing for a while.  Maya examined him and saw that he was pleasantly flushed from dancing, having that goofy charm that she had fallen in love with.

Larry finally spotted her and took a seat at her small table.  The table was so small that even if he was sitting across from her, their knees brushed together slightly, and this sent a slight shiver up her spine. 

"Having fun?" Larry said with a small smile, his eyes going to her drink, "Long Island Ice Tea!  Nice!"

Maya gave Larry a bright smile, forgetting her problems with Larry for a minute and said, "Yeah, I'm having a good time so far."

His smile got just a little bigger, and he said, "That's awesome!  I knew you would like it here."

Larry then seemed to study her for a second and then he spoke again, "You know Maya…I didn't get a chance to tell you, but you look really hot tonight in that dress."

Without thinking, he reached forward and threaded his fingers with hers, giving her his classic goofy grin.

Feeling instantly flushed with emotions as he pressed his hand pressed against hers, Maya softly said, "Really?"

His smile turned just a bit into a smirk and he replied, "Yeah, really."

Maya couldn't help but give him a big smile in return, and it was his turn to feel that little pleasant shiver course through him.  He kept looking at her, and he began to lean forward to kiss her, but he was stopped by a sudden searing pain in his back.

"Owww!" Larry cried out, letting go of Maya's hand abruptly and whipping his body around to see his attacker.

Franziska approached Larry slowly, and she put a hand on his shoulder that felt very threatening, and she spoke in a dangerously quiet tone, "Don't do anything foolish."

Maya felt a little disappointed at the sudden loss of contact, but she knew that Franziska was right.  She couldn't let her feelings be played around with.

After momentarily being scared of Franziska's wrath, Larry decided to turn the situation on its head, smirking and saying, "Me?  Do something foolish?  Never!  And is this some sort of challenge or something?  You know, I'll take you on!  I bet I could beat you in a contest...like…"

Larry looked around him quickly for inspiration as to what he might challenge Franziska with, and his eyes fell on someone taking a shot of tequila at the bar.

"…Like a tequila shot contest!" Larry said, giving Franziska a smirk.

Giving him a hard look, Franziska replied with disdain, "Now _that_ would be incredibly foolish."

His smirk got even larger, serving to get Franziska even more annoyed, and he replied in a teasing tone, "What?  Afraid you'll lose?"

Larry and Maya saw a slight twitch in her cheek, but that was the only indication of how angry she was with him. 

Startling both Maya and Larry, Franziska advanced on Larry and put a finger on his chest, saying, "I would never lose to the likes of you."

Even if Franziska was noticeably shorter than Larry, she still seemed like a very formidable presence.

Then Larry laughed and said, "Okay, you're on then!"

Miles and Phoenix wisely scurried off to get her the coke she wanted, not wanting to get involved in this, but Gumshoe felt obligated in trying to stop her from doing something that was obviously a bad idea.

"Miss von Karma…I don't think this is a good idea…" Gumshoe said in hesitation.

Suddenly her whip flew in his direction, and he just barely dodged the blow.

"Stay out of this, Scruffy!" Franziska bit out, giving Gumshoe a harsh look, and then she turned back to Larry, "You will taste defeat, you fool."

Larry just laughed and then he led the way to the bar, taking a seat at a stool in front of it.  With a huff, Franziska did the same next to him.  Larry called the bartender over and ordered two shots of tequila.  When the drinks were given to them, Larry slid one of the shot glasses in her direction while Maya and Gumshoe watched this contest from behind.

Gripping the glass tightly, Larry gave her a little playful smirk and said, "Okay, on the count of three.  One, Two – "

Instead of saying three, Larry quickly downed the shot, shaking his head slightly as the liquid burned its way down his throat.  Franziska had a similar reaction, but thoroughly exaggerated in comparison to his since she did not have much experience drinking hard liquor, being much more of a wine person herself.

Her head felt pretty woozy, but she managed to keep a scowl on her face and she glared at Larry as she said, "Give me another!"

Larry looked at her in surprise and then laughed.

Calling the bartender again, Larry ordered two more tequila shots, sliding a glass toward Franziska again, saying, "Bottoms up!"

This time he didn't even count, he just took the shot.  Franziska quickly followed, taking it quick and slamming her glass down.  Deciding that this was probably more than enough, she got off her bar stool and wavering on her feet as she stood up, about to fall if Gumshoe hadn't quickly grabbed a hold of her to support her.

Larry laughed in an obviously drunk fashion, saying, "Had enough?"

At this, Franziska unsteadily approached Larry and replied as threateningly as she could in a slurred voice, poking his nose, "Had 'nough of your foolish game."

This caused Larry to laugh again, but he lost his balance and slipped off the bar stool.  At this a smirk came to Franziska's face, but suddenly she was distracted by the dance floor.

"You will dance with me, Scruffy!" Franziska said, startling everyone, "And you will come with us, Maya Fey!"

Franziska then grabbed a hold of an embarrassed looking Gumshoe, and a very surprised Maya, dragging them towards the dance floor, running as fast as she could with the world spinning around her the way it was.  At this time, Larry picked himself off the floor, and noticed they were hurrying toward the dance floor.

            "Wait for me!" Larry cried, trying to keep up with them, the world spinning just about as badly for him as well.

Phoenix and Miles returned from buying Franziska her coke, finding that the four of them had already left for the dance floor.  They decided to just take it easy and sip their Long Island Ice Teas, silently glad that they were not dragged out on the dance floor as well.  Phoenix found himself chuckling when he saw Franziska, as well as Larry, pulling some hilarious moves in their ridiculously drunk states.  Miles had to chuckle as well because although this sort of behavior was almost expected from Larry, but it was unheard of from Franziska.

            "I know Franziska is going to regret this tomorrow morning." Miles said, an amused smirk on his face.

            "If only we brought a camera." Phoenix replied, laughing a little at the thought.

            "And get whipped to death when she finds out we have incriminating evidence?  Please." Miles said in a mock scoffing voice.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Phoenix and Miles continued to watch Franziska, Larry, Maya, and Gumshoe on the dance floor. Franziska and Larry continued to be amusing to watch, while Gumshoe was also laughably awkward, standing there while Franziska tried to whip him into dancing too (but she missed more often than not due to her intoxicated state).

They were soon surprised to see Franziska attempting to climb up on a table, but she failed miserably, almost falling to the ground if it wasn't for Gumshoe hurriedly catching her in his arms.

"Franny!" Gumshoe cried, his nickname for her slipping out with his worry.

Quickly realizing his mistake, he was glad she was much too drunk to notice. When he placed her safely on the ground, she wobbled a little on her feet, finding balance rather hard to come by.

"Wha' fool turned up the heat in here?" she said in an irritated tone, reaching down with her hands, clearly intending to take her shirt off.

Gumshoe's eyes widened in shock, and he quickly took her hands in his before she could succeed and spoke nervously, "Okay, pal, I think this is enough. I should get you home."

At this, Larry was laughing uncontrollably, falling over yet again on the dance floor. Maya, on the other hand felt vaguely worried about Franziska, but she knew that Gumshoe would take care of her. Maya's attention was quickly taken away from Franziska when she felt her hand being tugged by Larry, who'd found his way off the floor and pulled her into his body.

"Dance with me, Maya." he said in what Maya liked to call his special "goofy yet sexy" tone that she had trouble refusing even when she wasn't a little drunk.

The fact that she was suddenly pressed against him probably didn't help her self control very much either. So, she moved with him to the beat of the music for a few moments, letting herself get carried away in the beat and the emotions being this close to Larry caused. Finally, he locked eyes with her again, and with nothing standing in his way this time, he leaned forward to press his lips against hers.

Maya felt herself beginning to kiss back, the stunning sensation from the contact of their lips burning its way through her body, but then it suddenly hit her how wrong it all was. They were broken up, and it wasn't right to be doing this. She quickly turned her head away before the kiss could go on any longer and stepped back slightly.

"Larry…we shouldn't…I…_can't_." Maya said softly, her voice easily expressing her disappointment with the situation.

With a look of exaggerated hurt at her refusal, Larry stumbled backward to put a little distance between them and said, "Umm…alright."

Feeling really guilty, especially with the way Larry looked at her, Maya quickly made her way off the dance floor and left Larry behind her. She sat down by Phoenix and Miles, roughly picking up her Long Island Ice Tea and hurriedly consumed whatever was left in the glass.

"Maya, take it easy!" Phoenix said in concern as he watched her shake her head as the alcohol hit her.

Maya ignored Phoenix and pointed to another drink someone was having and said, "Get me one of those!"

"A Vodka Martini? But Maya, you just had a Long Island Ice Tea! You really should slow down – " Phoenix tried to dissuade her from drinking so fast, but she hurriedly cut him off.

"We'll all have one!"

She didn't wait for his reply, and went straight to the bar, ordering three. Phoenix gave Miles a look, hinting that he should help him pay for the drinks this time, and since it was Maya's birthday, Miles grudgingly went along with it, walking up to the bar to pay the waiting bartender the price for the drinks.

Maya didn't even wait until Phoenix and Miles got their drinks from the bartender to start on hers, taking a huge gulp when she looked across the club to see Larry hitting on some girls on the dance floor. It didn't matter that the girls just seemed to laugh at his drunken attempt at picking them up, the act itself made Maya burn with jealousy anyway.

_What to expect though? Larry's always been that way as long as I've known him. And I just told him that we weren't together…so I don't think I should feel like this at all._ Maya tried telling herself, but even as she thought it, she wasn't convinced anyway, the next big gulp she took of her martini evidence of that.

Both Phoenix and Miles could tell that things with Larry still had her upset, so they tried their best to keep her company and to distract her from her problems momentarily, not wanting her birthday celebration to be dampened by them.

* * *

On the way to his car, Detective Gumshoe had to support most of Franziska's weight, worried that if he let her walk on her own, she'd end up falling over. They finally made it to his car, which was a long and arduous process thanks to a drunk Franziska either trying to whip him or kiss him (and both at times) as she stumbled along beside him. He was thankful that she got into the car with little trouble, deciding that he needed to take her home right away so that she could sleep this off.

The drive to her apartment was quiet enough, since she started to doze off on the way back. Gumshoe felt a little sad about having to wake her up when he pulled into her apartment complex, giving her shoulder a light shake after he'd parked his car. With his arms around her, they stumbled their way up to her apartment, the detective not exactly wanting to leave her alone in this condition, knowing that she would probably have quite the headache the next morning.

_I'm definitely not looking forward to her feeling so bad tomorrow with her holding on to her whip!_ Gumshoe thought to himself, but he could not make himself leave, his want to take care of her stronger than his fear of the lashing he might receive due to her foul mood the next day.

He gently took the apartment keys from her after few clumsy attempts to unlock the door, and then unlocked it himself. After leading her inside her immaculately spotless living space, he tried to lay her down on the big couch in her living room, but she did not allow him to.

"C'mre, fool!" Franziska said with a smirk, or what would be closest likened to a smirk in her drunken state, and she threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close to her.

Gumshoe could smell the alcohol on her breath as she tugged him into an uncharacteristically sloppy kiss. For just a second, Gumshoe found himself unable to resist her advance since any kisses from her always felt so nice. He let her continue to kiss him, and he felt her clumsily trying to slip her hands under his coat, but her coordination was still so bad that she kept missing.

This caused him to pull back slightly, trying hard to keep his thoughts straight as he said, "Franny…we-we shouldn't…"

He was thankful that she'd dropped her whip when she threw her arms around his neck with the look she gave him at his refusal.

Stumbling backward slightly, she looked at him with an accusatory glare, poking his chest and saying, "Y're lucky…'m in no mood…to punish…"

Gumshoe noted that the slurred tone of her speech took away any threat they would have carried had they been said sober, and this coupled with the way she was swaying on her feet made the whole tirade seem rather ridiculous. But, he knew more than well to keep all these thoughts to himself, and he quickly focused himself on catching her before she fell again.

" — punished later…sleep — " she mumbled incoherently into his chest, her eyes closing, and her body finally falling fully against him.

The detective let out a small sigh of relief, just glad that she'd finally fallen back asleep and that he was saved from any further drunken advances from her, really because he wasn't sure how much more he'd have been able to refuse her. He carefully scooped her into his arms and lay her gently on the couch. Then he ventured into her bedroom and fetched a pillow and blanket for her, trying to make her feel as comfortable as he could on the couch.

When he finished tucking her in, so to speak, he just looked at her for a moment. Her head had lazily rolled to one side, and her body was splayed awkwardly across the couch, but he just kept looking, deciding that she still looked beautiful. He also realized that he'd never had a chance to just study her like this, with her eyes closed and her face having a strange peaceful quality about it that he'd never seen when she was awake, and it was something about this sight that made him decide that he probably loved her even more now than he did before.

He then took a seat in one of the arm chairs beside the couch and continued to watch her, reflecting on their relationship. He knew quite odd in comparison to the ones that most people had, but, as he quickly reminded himself, most people weren't Franziska von Karma either. She approached everything in her life with a harsh passion, including him he supposed, and this made her stand out in his mind as long as he knew her.

When they first met, he wondered how anyone could stand being around her for more than a short period, if at all, but over time, he got to see the real person under that hard and severe exterior she erected to block herself from the world. He knew that, some how, he'd become one of the very few people that had managed to do that, and this made him feel special.

The last thought he had before he drifted off to sleep was that, even if his relationship with her seemed strange to a lot of people, he really wouldn't have things any other way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Maya tried her best not to keep track of what Larry was up to while at the club, but that was very difficult, given the kiss they had shared on the dance floor.  With every drunk wink or other attempts to hit on the girls in the club, Maya took another gulp of her drink, trying desperately to push him out of her mind.  Phoenix and Miles were a bit worried about this as well, and so they accompanied her in the drinking to let her feel that they supported her.

When just a couple drinks started turning into four or five, thoughts of Larry thankfully began to fade from her mind as she began to study the men in front of her.  When she was sober, she didn't bother to study Phoenix too much since she considered him strictly as a brother.  She didn't study Miles too much either for two reasons:  he was obviously seeing Phoenix, so that'd be strange in itself, and he really wasn't that easily approachable, although he seemed to be getting better about that as of late.  Now that she was appropriately intoxicated, she was glad to realize that they did provide quite the distraction. 

Looking at Phoenix now, Maya decided that he really was quite good looking, having well defined features and, of course, those really intense, but warm blue eyes, almost wondering now why she didn't pay him much attention before.  She decided that the same applied to Miles.  His eyes were no less intense than Phoenix's, but they had this sharp edge to them that the defense attorney's lacked.  He carried himself with a sense of confidence and charisma, even if he was nearly as drunk as she was.  And when he was smiling, which was thankfully becoming a much less rare occurrence, she found it to be undeniably attractive.

Just before she was going to order them a sixth round of drinks, both Phoenix and Miles finally decided that all of them had enough, despite Maya's pitiful attempt at a puppy dog face in her drunken state.

Once outside, Miles spoke, his voice sounding a lot lighter and laid back as compared to when he was sober, "You know, Wright…I don't think I should drive…I think I'll just get us a cab."

"Noooo!  I wanna ride in your car and stick my head out and feel the wind in my hair!" Maya said, pantomiming how she would stick her head out of his car window, and nearly falling over as a result, hardly stable on her feet at all.

Lucky for her, Phoenix was standing right by her and he immediately caught her and said, sounding much more amused by her plight than he would if he were sober, "Whoa, take it easy, Maya!"

Finally Miles managed to hail a cab and the three of them squished into the back, Maya being in the middle of the two of them.  Miles told the cab to take them to Phoenix's apartment complex, since this is also where Maya stayed when she was in to visit the city from Kurain.

During the cab ride to Phoenix's apartment from the club, Maya decided to link arms with Phoenix and Miles and then doze off with her head on Miles' shoulder.  Under regular circumstances, this surely would have made them feel incredibly uncomfortable, but now they both found that they rather liked the closeness.

Finally the cab arrived at the apartment complex, and Phoenix set himself to waking Maya up while Miles paid the cab driver.

"Hey, Maya, we're here…" Phoenix said as he shook her with a little less grace than usual.

She blinked a few times in confusion, realizing that she had fallen asleep in the cab and then she said, "Woooowww…I thought we were still at the club!"

As she exited the cab with Phoenix's help, he was pleased to see that the sleep on the way back did her a little good, since she was a bit steadier on her feet now than she was at the club.

Making their way up to Phoenix's apartment, Maya decided to grab on to Miles' hand and hold on tight as Phoenix led the way.  Being primarily gay his whole life, Miles wondered why it felt so nice to have her small delicate hand in his, but he didn't think too deeply about this since it was very difficult to focus on one thing that long in this state.

It took Phoenix a few seconds longer than usual to open the door, but he finally managed it, letting everyone inside.  Phoenix had thought everyone would just get to sleep as soon as they got in, but it seemed like Maya had other plans.  When Phoenix had closed and locked the front door, Maya reached up to her hair, and undid her hair tie, shaking her hair loose from the bun it was in.

Something about the way she looked drew Miles and Phoenix's eyes, both of them silently agreeing that she looked better like this, her hair open, in a little black dress (which she had chosen to wear to the club instead of her everyday acolyte uniform), a definite sexy air about her now that wasn't there ordinarily. 

Both of them were too distracted in their drunkenness to even realize that this was Maya they were thinking about in this way, someone who was usually more of a child or a little sister in their eyes, instead of this appealing woman standing in front of them.

Giving Phoenix a hard look, she giggled and said in a sultry tone, "You know something, Nick?  Mia always told me how cute she thought you were, and I didn't know what she meant until I met you.  And I have to say, she was totally right."

Miles had to laugh at the blush that immediately spread across Phoenix's face at the direct compliment, but this brought Maya's attention to him next.

"And you!" Maya said with a smile, pointing a finger 'objection' style at Miles, "I didn't know what to think of you when I first met you, but I think I like you now, Miles…I like you a lot!"

Without warning, she stepped toward Miles and unceremoniously threw her arms around him, causing him to make a noise in surprise, but not entirely disliking the feeling he got from it.

"I'm glad you do, Maya." Miles said sincerely, even with his drunkenness, awkwardly returning her embrace.

Maya took Miles' reaction to her hug as a positive sign, and suddenly she closed her eyes, pressing her lips against his.  Instinctively, his eyes shut as he accepted the kiss, but within seconds, his drunk mind caught up to current events and he pulled back from her and looked at her in shock.

He wasn't the only one, since Phoenix was looking at her quite the same way, unable to help feeling just a twinge of jealousy that she was kissing Miles (as the prosecutor was technically his 'boyfriend').

Maya gave an airy giggle at the look on Miles' face and when she turned her head to look at Phoenix, she laughed a little more and said, "Don't feel jealous, Nick!  Come here!"

She suddenly turned to face Phoenix, almost tipping over if it wasn't for Miles' arms still loosely around her, reaching out and grabbing his hand, yanking him quickly toward herself, causing her to be in somewhat of a sandwich between the two men as she locked Phoenix in a sloppy but intense kiss.

Phoenix couldn't deny liking it as he felt Maya's soft lips against his, but his mind quickly caught up with what was happening and as he slowly pulled back from her, he looked at her, feeling his heart rate rising at the intense look she was giving him and he reluctantly said, his face flushing fully, "Maya…we shouldn't do this, you're…drunk."

Phoenix tried to look to Miles for assistance, but he couldn't provide any, as Maya's delicate warm body pressed against his own preventing much coherent thought in his alcohol addled brain.  This feeling was completely different than a man's body and on a whim he decided that he wanted to feel more.

"Noooo!  Come on, Nick!  It'll be fun!" her voice now sounding down right seductive as she pulled Phoenix's body tightly towards hers again in an awkward embrace.

"But, Maya…" Phoenix said as a small sigh escaped him, almost against his will, closing his eyes and trying to exercise a bit more self control, but the alcohol was a factor that was making him want to bend to his desires much more easily.

Suddenly Phoenix heard Miles' low sexy voice in his ear saying, "Come now, Wright.  It never hurts to try something new from time to time."

Barely giving Phoenix a chance to gasp, Miles captured Phoenix's lips from over Maya's shoulder, and Miles put his arms around both Phoenix and Maya, pressing all their bodies even closer together.

With that kiss and those words from Miles, all of Phoenix's self control finally broke and now he couldn't stop himself if he tried.


End file.
